EveryThingEarin

ARTIST FOUND

It was with amazement and joy today when I discovered that the artist of, "Self Portrait to Wear", Lynne Streeter had answered my email. I was a bit intimidated when she told me that it had taken her nine months to complete her piece. Lynne spends part of her time in Italy where she teaches marble sculpture. She will be back in Oakland next month and hopefully I'll get to meet her.

I don't have any actual knitting content today. I am so very close to finishing the second hubby sock (an inch or less) so I'm hoping to post a picture of my dearest wearing them very soon. We recently discovered "House, MD" and have been watching the DVDs as fast as Netflix mails them to us. It's been cutting into my knitting time. I've tried knitting while watching but after frogging twice I gave up. I can knit to some programs but not to Hugh Laurie. Besides, the drooling slows me down.

I washed and blocked the swatch for the fingerless gloves and the yarn decreased by 1 stitch per inch. I had thought at first that the yarn had relaxed but I think my brain was inverted. I want to see how another swatch works out using a size smaller needles. 7's instead of 8's. I had an email from Valerie saying that she would be mailing me her second copy of the spring issue of Interweave Knits which has the pattern. I've been drooling over the ones that she knitted with cashmere edging for months. I knew I had to make them when I kept going back to look at the photos. First a pair for Lynda then a pair for me (get those kinks worked out first - sorry L.).
Otis continues to learn about the great big outdoors and has discovered the fish in our pond. We are really looking forward to having him neutered. We love him dearly but his testosterone, if that's what male cats have, is making him a pest to all the other animals in the house.

EYE CANDY FRIDAY
I'm not entirely sure how this is different from my more usual Random Garden Photos other than it isn't always about flowers (but mostly is) and it's on Friday. Doesn't matter at all. This yellow rose is a climber that I inherited from Lynda, she, the future proud owner of fingerless mitts lovingly knitted by her oldest friend. We call it "The Floozy" because the flowers open in a day and then looks like a wreck after a few hours.
There is an amazing nursery in Richmond called Annie's Annuals. On long winter nights I will flip through her slide show and dream of spring. It's a very, very good website and changes with the seasons. My claim to fame is that I once won at musical chairs ($100 worth of plants. I was a happy camper.) during her spring garden party. Heck, I was a Morris dancer for years. That just means I have a good sense of rhythm and I'm totally shameless about dancing in public. It didn't cross my mind that I wouldn't win. When I visit the nursery I like to wander around and pick seeds off of her plants. Of course, I quickly lose track of what I picked. Then when I grow them it always a mystery. The caryopteris above had me flummoxed for most of last summer. I hadn't a clue to what it was but it was doing well. It finally bloomed in late summer and was fantastic. No maintenance, drought tolerant, deer resistant and a heavy bloomer. True. Love.
A rudbeckia called "Gloriosa Daisy". Interestingly, the one packet of seeds had flowers that were all in the same color scheme but with quite a bit of variation. Like people. Hmmmm. I'm starting to sound Cosmic, time to go to bed.

posted by Earin Marybird @ 11:39 PM